3 Country Songs That Tried To Outrun the Urban Cowboy Craze in the 80s

The film Urban Cowboy dropped in 1980, and it was a pretty big deal. In fact, the film has been credited with reviving mainstream interest in country music in the early 1980s. People were square/line dancing, and plenty of soft-core country tunes and mellow country stylings began to become popular. And whenever something becomes popular, there is always a countercultural movement that pops up, serving as an alternative direction. Let’s look at a few country songs from the 80s that diverted from the urban cowboy craze of the era.

“Amarillo By Morning” by George Strait from ‘Strait From The Heart’ (1983)

While moody, almost new wave-adjacent country songs were climbing the charts, George Strait decided to dish out some traditional Country and Western flavor with this swingin’ tune from 1983. There’s no country-pop to be found here. And the song itself is technically a cover of a country song by Terry Stafford, released in 1973.

“Amarillo By Morning” by George Strait was a No. 1 hit on the Canadian country chart and peaked at No. 4 on the US Hot Country Songs chart in 1983.

“Highway 40 Blues” by Ricky Skaggs from ‘Highways & Heartaches’ (1983)

Ricky Skaggs released this bluegrass, rootsy country song with an old-school feel back in 1983. And it was a hit that shone above the glittery urban cowboy tunes of the time.

“Highway 40 Blues” by Ricky Skaggs was a fast hit on the country charts, peaking at No. 1 in both the US and Canada in 1983. According to songwriter Larry Cordle, the song is about a highway in Kentucky, rather than Nashville’s famed I-40.

“Honky Tonk Man” by Dwight Yoakam from ‘Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.’ (1986)

The honky-tonk as a place, culture, and state of mind will never die. And while softer, pop-oriented country tunes were hitting the airwaves in the 1980s, Dwight Yoakam dropped an ode to traditional honky-tonk tunes in 1986. And it wasn’t the first time “Honky Tonk Man” hit the airwaves. This song was originally a Johnny Horton rockabilly jam from 1956. Yoakam’s version was a No. 3 hit on the Hot Country Songs chart.

(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

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